EBRD finances first malt deal in Ukraine

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing an €8.5 million loan and €20 million revolving working capital facility to Malteurop Ukraine and Malteurop Eastern Ukraine, subsidiaries of the largest malt producer in the European Union, Malteurop SCA of France. Of the total, €13.7 million has been syndicated to Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij Voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO) and Credit Lyonnais.

The seven-year loan will enable Malteurop to expand its Desna malt house in Chernigiv, in northern Ukraine, and to construct a second malt house in Kharkiv, in northeast Ukraine. It will also provide working capital for the purchase of malting barley, especially at harvest. Both malt houses will supply Sun Interbrew Ltd., the largest brewery group in Ukraine.

The deal will help to expand high-quality domestic malt production capacity and significantly decrease reliance of the Ukrainian brewing industry on imported malt, said Hans Christian Jacobsen, the EBRD's Director for Agribusiness. A related farm assistance programme, designed by Malteurop, will provide pre-financing, agronomic assistance and training to farmers to improve the quality and yields of barley, he added.

Daniel Huvet, General Manager of Malteurop, said the deal is part of Malteurop's expanded presence in Eastern Europe, which it considers a market with great potential. "We are also pleased to be extending our business relationship with Interbrew through the supply agreement with Sun Interbrew Ltd," Mr Huvet added.

The successful syndication of the long-term loan shows that there is an appetite from the market to fund well-structured transactions alongside the EBRD in the more difficult countries in the region, said Lorenz Jorgensen, the EBRD's Director of Syndications.

As of the end of June 2002, the EBRD has signed 168 investments in the agribusiness sector totalling more than €2.8 billion, of which €310 million was in Ukraine. Overall in Ukraine, the EBRD's cumulative investments stand at €1.3 billion through 55 projects.

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